Will the Supreme Court Rule Against Trump’s Latest Travel Ban?

On September 11, 2017, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy issued a temporary order halting the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ previous ruling, which would have granted admittance to roughly 24,000 refugees if “a resettlement agency had promised that it would provide basic services for them.” In effect, Justice Kennedy’s ruling restored President Trump’s original ban on individuals from six predominantly Muslim countries.

The original ban only allowed exceptions in cases where there was a “close familial relationship”, which the Administration defined as only parents, children, siblings, spouses and fiances. The Ninth Circuit upheld the expansion of that definition to include grandparents, other extended family members, and refugees with formal assurances of support from resettlement agencies.

The full Supreme Court is scheduled to begin hearing arguments about the Administration’s ban on October 10, 2017. Former National Security officials with the highest security clearances from both Democratic and Republic administrations have strongly urged the Supreme Court to rule against President Trump’s ban. Their statement to the Supreme Court declares, “All available evidence suggests that the order was not based on national security judgment at all, but rather, on a deliberate political decision to discriminate against a religious minority.”